St. Landry democrat., 1887-06-11
TRICKS OF TRADE.

THE UNWARY ARE FLEECED.
The Misfortunes of a Family Who Made
Mistake in Selecting an Auctioneer-A
Stock of Goods Secured at Slaughter Prices
The Devices of Intelligence Offices.
Troubles never come alone. One year
ago last May, a family in very good
circumstances bought a fine house IN
New York city and started to fur
nish it in grand style. The richest car
pets were put down and the furniture
was to be taken in one Monday morning.
The upholsterers had been at work TILL
late Saturday night putting up hang
ings-and early Monday morning the
mistress of the mansion with TREND
mounted the steps and unlocked the
outer door. She stood and looked with
dismay at an inch or so of water that
covered the marble between the yestl-
bule doors. With considerable treplda-
tion she opened the inner door and
dreadful sight met her HORNED
gaze. The splendid paper that
had decorated the walls hung in sheets
over the banisters and on the stairs,
the heavy plaster cornice had fallen, the
carpets were under three inches of water,
wreck and ruin were in every direction,
the curtain hangers had been to the upper
rooms for water, found it did not run
and concluded it was turned off, left the
faucets all on and went away. Dl RI g
the evening, when the force of water
carries it to the third stories of buildings,
on it came with rush. All day Sunday,
when so much less is used in business,
the water still flowed with great strength;
every ceiling was in holes, every bit OF
wall paper down, carpets and draperles
ruined; it cost thousands of dollars to
repair the damage of that days work.
But the place was Strengthened out and
in June the family moved in. In the fall
the husband failed in business, the home
was sold and an auctioneer was sum
moned by the wife to sell the household
furniture that she might join her hus-
band, who lay sick in a Western city
Unfortunately she fell into the hands OF
a sharper.
Poor Mrs. - reached the house the
morning of the auction, just as the sales
man was knocking down the parlor fur
niture. She paused, Mortified, as she
heard her curtains that had cost $500 a
six months before had cost $500 reached
SO She tried to stop the sale, but
the auctiOneer waved her away as one
who had little interest in the matter
She went upstairs and sat down and
cried in sheer desperation. While she
thus relieved her troubled soul palI
of boots came home and she threw them
into a bureau drawer. In due time the
poor woman's bedroom was invaded by
| the mob, and it was not till everything
| had been carted out of the house that she
remembered the boots in the bureau
| drawer \ friend advised herto consult
the auctioneer's books and learn in what
| direction the bureau went, for an honest
| person would be glad to return the
! property.
TO this end the friend visited the sales
room of the auctiOneer, and the frs'
! things she saw were the splendld articles
! lately sacrificed at ruinou> prices at the
| auction of poor Mrs. IS effects. lht
$500 curtains that had been bought by
| Nh Rensselaer, Van Stuyvesant for So
hung on the salesroOm walls alongside
the Medallion Administer. The Holy
Family by Raphael, that had cost Mr..
a thousand. and been sold for hundred
was plavfully ticketed An undoubteI
original for five hundred dollars only.
The lady priced lot of things and Learned
what a swindle the whole thing had been
and giving up the boots she travelled baci
to Mrs. -.
Together they sought redress, but II
| seemed there was none. 50 the untor
tunate lady went to her husband and thai
unpleasant episode ended.
There probably is not business il
New York city that ekes out for its con
.ductors a more precarious living thai
that of the intellig offices. On tn
scarcity of servan' an he multiplicit.
of places they hav, incr lsed and multi
piled, but their ~,44etors have no
grown fat. Sometimes they seek t
draw custom by taking no fees from em
plovers. in which case the servants hay
to bear all the burden that others dlvid
between the two. Some Of them g
on the principle of charging all tn
traffic will bear, but if the traf
ic kicks they are quite willin
to take less. Most of them charg
fee, which gives to employers the us
of the office for three months, and 1t
the settled conviction of many house
keepers that, as the three months nea
the end, the office people make the SCI
, wants dissatisfied and induce them t
leave, in order to get new fees from on
or both parties. There is one offic
making a speciality of certain class {
servants that is so palpably humbu
that it is wonder it has any customer
at all 1t is kept by burly German VIII
.. manages by good many hooks an
: crooks to drive quite thriving bushes
) One of his hooks is to address any veal
, witted-looking servant girl whom he SEE
in the street and induce her to go to h
:, office to see if she can't better hersel
She may have been sent out /
2 her employers on hasty errand, but h
l brusque and commanding manner wi
gain such a mastery over her weak wit
coupled with the prospect of a doll;
more per month, that she will go to h
office at once and stay there for hour
f He will get a fee from her, and if 81
e doesn't get new place he will send h
: home with story of having got lost. T
e advertises good deal, and almost ever
; morning his advertisement, a roug
). sketch of an ideal servant, who is willi1
to go anywhere and doesn't want hie
wages, can be seen in the papers. B
a nobody ever reached his Office at an ear
u enough hour to get that girl. She h
always "got place already She is
!